The Washington National Cathedral (officially consecrated under the name "Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Washington") is one of the most important religious buildings of the United States States: its size, it is also the sixth largest cathedral in the world (excluding therefore the Basilicas of St. Peter's and Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, which has the status of a cathedral).
President George Washington was the first to consider the foundation of a cathedral in the new federal capital. In 1893, Congress adopted a charter, laying the legal foundations necessary to build the National Cathedral. The first stone of the sanctuary was laid in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt completion dates only from 1990.
This imposing shrine was designed by the architects Frederick Bodley and Philip Hubert Frohman, the latter having taken over the work after the First World War until his death in 1972. After long hesitation about which party architectural would be chosen for the cathedral, its designers finally opted for a neo-Gothic style inspired by the cathedrals of England and Normandy. The dimensions of the sanctuary are impressive: 161 meters long from the entrance to the nave to the apse, and 94.8 meters in height between the base and top of the tower.
On both sides of the building, pinnacles and gargoyles offer sculptures inspired by the medieval iconography, without excluding more secular themes: for example, represents one of the gargoyles corrupt politician with hundred dollar bills in excess of pockets of his coat, another representing the Sith Lord "Darth Vader", key figure of the movie Star Wars. This trait of humor contemporary artists joined in this coarse masks and caricatures adorning some other churches and cathedrals of medieval Europe.
This building is visited annually by over 800,000 people.
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